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GoTo Connect Review

Jeff Hale
Jeff Hale
  • GoToConnect is a unified cloud-based VoIP phone service designed to handle all of your team's calls, meetings and messages.
  • GoToConnect is versatile, letting you switch among your desk phone, the desktop app and the mobile app to take calls from anywhere.
  • Businesses can choose from three service plans that start at $22 per user per month.
  • This review is for business owners who are interested in learning more about GoToConnect, our choice for the best phone system for features and tools.

GoToConnect (formerly Jive) is a flexible voice over internet protocol (VoIP), video and messaging service for fully unified business communications. The system offers an easy setup and configuration, with a visual call routing editor that doesn't require a dedicated IT team to deploy. The support center available in the Premium plan gives any team the tools it needs to increase efficiency and provide a better customer experience.

GoTo Connect

GoTo Connect

The Verdict

GoToConnect offers one of the best slates of features of all the business phone systems we reviewed, helping businesses of all sizes communicate clearly and collaborate efficiently.

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Businesses can streamline workflows through seamless integration with popular systems such as Salesforce, Zoho, and the Microsoft and Google suites. What separates GoToConnect from its competitors is the impressively long list of features and tools, cost-effective scalability, and big bundled discounts for the GoTo Collaboration Suite, with solutions for webinars, meetings, training and everything else small businesses and large enterprises need to communicate and collaborate effectively.

GoToConnect Pricing

GoToConnect offers three system plans with over 100 features across cloud VoIP and web, audio and video conferencing to empower workforces of all sizes. The fully featured phone, chat and video conferencing Standard plan is the most popular option, which makes perfect sense, considering it has so many additional tools for an extra $2 per user per month.

There are three service plans, which differ by price and features. Here's how the three plans break down:

GoToConnect Basic

  • Price: $24 per user per month; maximum of 20 users; designed for small businesses
  • Features: Work from anywhere, unlimited extensions, call forwarding, numerous phone number options, call routing, team messaging, audioconferencing, ring groups, call queues, auto attendants, simultaneous webcams, and integrations with platforms such as Google Workspace and Microsoft Outlook

GoToConnect Standard

  • Price: $26 per user per month; maximum of 99 users; designed for midsize businesses
  • Features: Everything in the Basic plan, plus hotdesking, shared line appearance, voicemail to email, e-fax, paging, intercom, call recording, reports on caller hold times, real-time analytics and international calling to 50 countries
    • The optional Plus tier upgrade adds password management and multifactor authentication with LastPass Teams, basic event hosting with GoToWebinar Lite and premium onboarding with 24/7 support, for an additional $34 per user per month.

GoToConnect Premium

  • Price: Starts at $39 per user per month; designed for large enterprises
  • Added support center features: Call analytics, inbound and outbound call monitoring, queue call barge, supervisor real-time view, contact center administration experience, real-time summaries, agent effectiveness reporting and more
    • The optional Plus tier upgrade adds advanced agent management, identity management, support desk management, large event hosting and support room hardware licensing, starting at $44 per user per month.

If you need a new hardware-based VoIP business phone solution, GoToConnect has dozens of preconfigured desk, cordless and conference phone options with high-quality, business-grade audio from manufacturers such as Oracle, Yealink and Polycom/Plantronics. Phone hardware ranges in price from $120 to $900. You can also use your existing analog phones with the addition of an analog telephone adapter to convert the electric signals into data packets that your virtual phone system can transmit.

GoToConnect includes a 14-day free trial for the Basic and Standard plans, with no credit card or commitments required to test the system. You may also be able to save up to 10% with the Basic and Standard plans if you pay annually. For the Premium option, you'll want to reach out directly for a live demo to see how GoToConnect can work for your company.

TipTip: If you want to use your current PBX equipment, inquire about GoToConnect's SIP trunking services.

GoToConnect Features

GoToConnect has more than 100 features and tools, including everything businesses of all sizes would want in a cloud VoIP and web phone system. The company also offers audioconferencing and video conferencing. You'd be hard-pressed to find a big communications feature missing from GoToConnect's middle- or top-tier options when compared with the competition. This becomes especially clear in the company's recent announcement about bundling services with LogMeIn's LastPass, GoToWebinar, GoToAssist, GoToRoom, and contact center offerings that add even more new features to empower businesses to connect from anywhere. The crystal-clear voice features include cloud PBX, custom hold music, dial plan editor and international calling. With the call center, you can implement advanced ring strategies, pre-call announcements, wait time announcements and unlimited call queues. Call management is effortless thanks to call routing, caller ID, "find me/follow me" and do-not-disturb functionality.

You can host video conferences for up to 250 participants with 25 HD feeds, set personal meeting rooms, and share your screen with a single click for flawless presentations, effective demos and productive brainstorm sessions.

GoToConnect has also refreshed its mobile experience with the understanding that many employees will continue to work remotely on a long-term basis, even once the COVID-19 pandemic wanes. Employees who are working from home will be able to receive and make work calls from mobile devices without using their personal phone numbers. The updated mobile platform is now on a par with the desktop application's features, offering tools such as shared extension, advance call flip, voicemail transcription, find me/follow me and many more.

With so many new access points involved in remote work, cybersecurity always has to remain a top priority. GoToConnect protects live and hosted data with TLS encryption, encryption at rest and the latest security standards, like SOC 2 Type II and GDPR. For example, federal law requires the healthcare industry to protect patient data. GoToConnect integrates with medical systems of record to provide authorized individuals with the relevant patient information for incoming calls in real time to help provide the best service possible.

Key TakeawayKey takeaway: GoToConnect offers over 100 features, including video conferencing and softphones. Learn more about what a softphone is.

GoToConnect Pros 

One big benefit of GoToConnect is that even the entry-level plan, which is designed with small businesses in mind, offers feature-rich services for simplified cloud phone service and meetings in a simple system that's easy to deploy and manage.

The ability to connect services across all devices using GoToConnect Mobile with HD voice in varying network conditions means you don't have to sacrifice professional expectations for the growing necessity to conduct business outside the office, even if that means occasionally taking calls from the backyard. Being able to rely on GoToConnect Web and GoToConnect Desktop for the same clean and easy-to-navigate features ensures you can switch between devices and offices without any interruption. The system is also compatible with over 180 desk phone models.

You can quickly jump between a chat and a call, or host an impromptu video conference with one click, all from the same app. By keeping all communications in one place, it's easy for teams to collaborate in real time and feel like everyone is in the office together. Outside participants never have to download anything to join your meeting.

Compared with many other business phone systems, GoToConnect is simple to use. The visual drag-and-drop interface in the Dial Plan Editor lets you instantly follow and modify your call flows. This system makes it easy to add custom greetings and set up call routing for different times of the day or special circumstances. The admin interface offers picture-perfect visibility into how your teams are connecting with one another for actionable insights.

GoToConnect's push for frictionless communication within its ecosystem also means this system integrates with leading software, such as Salesforce, Google Workspace, Slack, Microsoft, Zoho and many more.

The latest Microsoft Teams edition of GoToConnect lets businesses that are currently using Microsoft Teams combine GoToConnect's crystal-clear audio with the collaboration solutions users love about Microsoft Teams.

The recently announced bundling with LastPass, GoToWebinar, GoToAssist, GoToRoom and other contact center offerings is an easy way to consolidate your communications, collaboration, data security and remote support from one vendor at a discounted rate.

Key TakeawayKey takeaway:With GoToConnect's business telephone lines, you can expect frictionless communication between employees and customers, including integration with major software solutions. New features and partners are added frequently.

GoToConnect Cons

One downside of GoToConnect is that the entry-level plan is limited. If you're looking for a long list of powerful features and tools, you will not find them in the Basic plan, which is limited to 40 minutes per meeting with up to four participants or webcams. That falls short of the free options offered by other popular video conferencing services, like Zoom. (However, GoToConnect's mid- and top-tier plans have some of the most comprehensive feature sets in the industry, which is why we selected this provider as the best business phone system for features and tools.) Another possible drawback is that GoToConnect has a limit of 250 video participants with 25 simultaneous high-definition feeds, which may not be ideal for larger meetings, video conferences or webinars.

Key TakeawayKey takeaway:Possible downsides of GoToConnect include a limited entry-level plan and caps on video conference durations and participants.

GoToConnect Customer Service

To judge the level of customer service you can expect, we reached out to GoToConnect during normal business hours and off-hours by live chat, email and phone. We posed as small, medium and large businesses with questions about the company's service options. Even when we hung up intentionally to simulate a dropped call, a service representative returned our call quickly and left a message with a direct number to reach them.

During our communications, we found GoToConnect's representatives to be friendly, easy to understand and interested in answering our questions to the best of their ability. Our after-hours written communications were responded to promptly, with options to call a direct number to speak to a representative immediately.

GoToConnect has an online resource center with a search bar to ask questions and find solutions for many potential issues. We were able to find many brief training articles and dozens of curated instructional videos as well.

Image Credit: Prostock-Studio / Getty Images
GoTo Connect

GoTo Connect

The Verdict

GoToConnect offers one of the best slates of features of all the business phone systems we reviewed, helping businesses of all sizes communicate clearly and collaborate efficiently.

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Jeff Hale
Jeff Hale
Business News Daily Contributing Writer
Jeff Hale is a writer and editor based in San Diego with a background in business development and marketing. He has identified new market opportunities for Fortune 500 companies and developed communications strategies and digital branding for tech startups and small businesses. Jeff covers emerging technologies and business solutions with a focus on efficiency and growth. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California, Irvine, and an MBA from Chapman University.